Does Infrared Help in Weight Loss?

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Losing weight is one of the most partaken activities in the world. Everybody tries their hand at it, not all of them succeed. We see people drinking green tea, apple cider vinegar, even organic coffee, all in an attempt to shed even a few pounds. People are willing to go to any lengths needed to lose that extra flab, whatever their reason might be, their demands are the same; lose weight and lose it fast.

The desire to lose weight is a very popular demand, and this has led to a lot of research in the field, the result of which has been that we’ve now got so many options that allow us to skip out on the long tedious workouts and grueling diet regimes. We now have options like inserting gastric balloons or taking supplements and medicine or using infrared for health betterment and weight loss.

The last is, in our opinion, the most innovative and safe alternative. It has relatively few, near negligible side effects and is ideal for almost all people. But there is also a lot of doubt related to its effectiveness. Let’s look at what it is first so that we can better explain why these fears are baseless.

What is infrared light therapy?

The use of heat to heal the body and relieve stress is not a recent practice. It’s been in use since ancient times. The method has, over its use of thousands of years, advanced and become so refined that we now have far-light and near-light infrared saunas that assist in a lot of various treatments. These use an infrared light source that encourages the sweating of your body and assists in losing weight.

What are the benefits?

1. Weight loss:

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Infrared light generates heat that helps to increase your body’s core temperature and speed up your metabolism. This leads to your body burning more calories while attempting to keep up with the rise in temperature and lowering it, hence helping you lose weight. Also, since it penetrated the skin deeply, it prompts this sweating at a cellular level, thus proving more effective than other forms of hearing exposure weight loss treatments such as traditional saunas, etc.  Some infrared saunas make the claim of being able to reduce up to 600 calories in just a 30-minute session, though such a major claim is facing some critique.

2. Better circulation:

The increase in heart rate brought about by infrared heat improves the working and health of your heart and the strength of your vessels. The vessels will dilate to accommodate the higher flow, hence increasing their flexibility and raising the supply of oxygen and energy to all your muscles, considerably increasing your stamina too.

3. Detoxification:

Since infrared saunas or other forms of infrared treatment promote sweating, they help flush out toxins from our bloodstream and cells. This detoxifying procedure helps clean your organs and hence function better, makes your skin look healthier by removing toxins from it, and significantly improves your mood and general well-being. Detoxification is also known to have an anti-aging effect on your body, specifically your skin.

4. Pain relief:

Infrared light penetrates the skin up to an inch deep and helps relieve pain by improving the circulation of blood in these regions and also by relaxing the muscles. Infrared light of wavelengths between 600-1000nm is absorbed easily by our cells and they convert this added energy into substances that help it to speed up healing and other such processes which ultimately help in relieving pain.

5. Stress relief:

Infrared red-light therapy has been shown to affect the level of cortisol in our blood. Cortisol is the body’s main stress management hormone. In this way, it helps us tackle stress and makes the experience even more beneficial by relaxing muscles and bones through the application of heat. Also, since the application of heat has an effect similar to exercising, you experience post-workout mood uplifts, furthering stress reductions.

So, does it work?

While it has been proven to assist in weight loss and help in the betterment of your health, it is in no way a replacement for working out or using other proper methods of losing weight. Still, the rejuvenating and relaxing potential alone make trying this wellness trend well worth your time.

Other ways to shed weight fast:

Infrared saunas aren’t the only way to trim down quickly, there are other ways to get rid of that extra mass quickly. Here are a few popular ones:

1. Cutting down on carbs and sugars:

Let go of processed sugars and refined carbohydrates

2. Increase protein and fiber intake

Fibers fill you up faster, making you eat less. Proteins contribute to muscle growth

3. Try high-intensity interval training (HIIT)

Currently the most effective workout for those that want to slim down immediately

4. Intermittent Fasting

Using alternative fasting to cut back on food consumption or other methods of fasting

5. Eating mindfully and tracking what you eat

Eat in ways that your brain knows when you’re done, sit down and eat, use smaller portions, etc.

Hassan Khan Yousafzai  is passionate about Digital marketing. Along with an educational background in Software Engineering, he is bridging the gap between marketing and development department. At Techvando, he has been consulting brands all over Pakistan to gain online traffic and profitable leads.

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